Imagine #1: A Dream...

Chapter 20: The Night Before

SYLVIA KUMAR

Saturday, June 27, 2020 - 2080 RC

The battle was coming up. We had all come together that morning to figure out our plan, a proper plan this time, to make sure we could rid the Darkness from at least one planet. If we could do one, we could do them all. Whenever the Darkness next attacked a planet, we would be there, and we would stop it. We had to.

Daydream had explained a little more about the Darkness in our meeting. "The more planets that Nightmare darkens, the weaker the Dream Realm becomes. But there is a catch to this power. Each planet darkened is now linked to Nightmare, and to each other. If you defeat Nightmare on one planet, if one planet is undarkened, then all the planets' darkness will fade. She can't hold the Darkness together if her magic is blocked so completely." We must have looked confused, so she had summarized, "You win once, you win the entire thing."

This had given me hope. Maybe, we actually had a chance at saving the realm. No, I told myself. We have more than a chance. You have to be confident, I reprimanded, trying to stay positive. Negativity was the problem when using Dreamer magic.

I sat up in my bed, snapping out of my thoughts. It was relatively late in the evening, all of us were just about to go to sleep. Hazel and Vex were still training from their beds though, and Diana was reading a book from the library with a very focused expression, so I didn't really want to disturb them.

"I'll send a bunch of energy spears at you, and you block them with a shield. I'll keep sending them, so try to sustain as long as possible." Vex explained, and then added as an afterthought, "These are the mostly harmless kind, they shouldn't hurt too much,"

Hazel did not look reassured, but nodded nonetheless. "Ready," She said, her hands out, prepared to form an energy shield. From the first day we had met, she had improved drastically, and was now at a level where she could feel confident using them in battle. Vex sent a flurry of small beams at her, and she blocked them all with a large shield, a determined look on her face.

After a few moments, when the shield hadn't faltered in the slightest against the onslaught. Vex stopped. "That was good," She said, a small, proud smile on her face. She had changed, since the first day we had met. She was... a little more talkative, more relaxed. She still got annoyed quickly, and was still the outspoken person she was before, but now she was opening up as well. The disinterested facade she hid behind was fading day by day as I got to know her better.

I hadn't known them for too long yet, but I liked having Hazel and Vex as friends, and I was sure that Diana agreed. Dream Realm was amazing, and a little scary sometimes, but I didn't regret coming here in the least, even though it wasn't really our decision at the time. I would be happy staying here longer, when there was peace, and we had freedom to explore the realm on our own, without worrying about an attack.

"Hey, you guys," Diana spoke up, lowering her book. "I was reading this book about magic in Dream Realm, seeing if I could learn anything new about... well, everything. And the author here talks about something kind of interesting." She looked up from the pages, wondering if she should continue. I gestured for her to read the passage.

"When a threat would arise to harm the realm, a team of people, usually no larger than eight, both from the Dream Realm and beyond would be our saviors. A team of Protectors, led by two people chosen by the Guardians. Protectors could be normal people, but were often Celestials or Dreamers. The leaders, though, always had unheard of powers, stronger than any other, the power to transform into a dragon with fierce abilities of combat, and to control an element to an extent that no Celestial ever has.

"The power is fueled by two twin artifacts, although the actual objects are a secret, only known by the Guardians and the Protectors themselves. The artifacts were passed from leader to leader, and with their power and the rest of the team, the Protectors protected all the realms from danger." Diana finished.

"Well, there's nothing like that now, is there?" I commented, not having seen any special team helping us defeat the Darkness.

"There isn't that I've heard of," Vex agreed. "Maybe Protectors stopped being chosen a long time ago. The rift was probably why. You can't have a unified team to protect everyone when your realms are enemies," She reasoned.

"Hmm," Diana said, thinking. "And what does the author mean by all the realms? The Dream Realm, Nightmare Realm, and... the Waking World?" She guessed, using the name that Dreams used for Earth.

Hazel didn't seem to think the wording mattered. "They probably just meant that, and said it the way they did for effect." She shrugged.

"Do you think Daydream still has the artifact or whatever? The powers might be useful in fighting the Nightmares." Diana asked, excited.

I shook my head. "She would have told us if she still had it, or if she thought we were capable of using it. She wants to win too, why would she hide something so powerful?"

Diana shrugged. "She kept the Nightmares a secret until WE went and found out about it. No reason she isn't hiding this as well." She sighed. "None of us have time to master a new power anyways. We're probably good enough to fight without it, right?" She said with a mischievous smile in our direction.

I put the thought of Protectors out of my mind. Diana was right, we didn't need their powers to win. We were good enough to beat the Darkness. We had to be.